1 Dr Marcel Daba BENGALY Université Ouaga I Pr Joseph KI ZERBO Final version, February 2017 Disclaimer This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. MODULE 2 BIOTECHNOLOGY: HISTORY, STATE OF THE ART, FUTURE. LECTURE NOTES: UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY, HISTORY AND CONCEPTS DEFINITION
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1
Dr Marcel Daba BENGALY
Université Ouaga I Pr Joseph KI ZERBO
Final version, February 2017
Disclaimer This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
MODULE 2
BIOTECHNOLOGY: HISTORY, STATE
OF THE ART, FUTURE.
LECTURE NOTES: UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY,
HISTORY AND CONCEPTS DEFINITION
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PRESENTATION OF MODULE 2
INTRODUCTION
Achieving food security in its totality (food availability, economic and physical access to food,
food utilization and stability over time) continues to be a challenge not only for the developing
nations, but also for the developed world. The difference lies in the magnitude of the problem in
terms of its severity and proportion of the population affected. According to FAO statistics, a
total of 842 million people in 2011–13, or around one in eight people in the world, were
estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger. Despite overall progress, marked differences
across regions persist. Africa remains the region with the highest prevalence of
undernourishment, with more than one in five people estimated to be undernourished. One of the
underlying causes of food insecurity in African countries is the rapid population growth
(Africa's population is expected to reach 2.4 billion in 2050) that makes the food security
outlook worrisome. According to some projections, Africa will produce enough food for only
about a quarter of its population by 2025. How will Africa be able to cope with its food security
challenge? Is biotechnology is key to food security in Africa?
Biotechnology’s ability to eliminate malnutrition and hunger in developing countries through
production of crops resistant to pests and diseases, having longer shelf-lives, refined textures and
flavors, higher yields per units of land and time, tolerant to adverse weather and soil conditions,
etc, has been reviewed by several authors. If biotechnology per se is not a panacea for the
world’s problems of hunger and poverty, it offers outstanding potentials to increase the
efficiency of crop improvement, thus enhance global food production and availability in a
sustainable way. A common misconception being the thought that biotechnology is relatively
new and includes only DNA and genetic engineering. So, agricultural biotechnology is
This Unit 1 of Module 2 is an integral part of the six Master's level course modules (each of
20 hrs) in the field of agricultural biotechnology as elaborated by the EDULINK-FSBA project
(2013-2017) which are:
Module 1: Food security, agricultural systems and biotechnology
Module 2: Biotechnology: history, state of the art, future
Module 3: Public response to the rise of biotechnology
Module 4: Regulation on and policy approaches to biotechnology
Module 5: Ethics and world views in relation to biotechnology
Module 6: Tailoring biotechnology: towards societal responsibility and country
specific approaches
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especially a topic of considerable controversy worldwide and in Africa, and public debate is
fraught with polarized views and opinions. Therefore, working at the sustainable introduction of
biotechnology for food security in Africa requires a strong conceptual understanding by the
learner (stakeholders and future stakeholders) of what is biotechnology.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THE MODULE:
The main objective of this module is to offer a broad view of biotechnology, integrating
historical, global current (classical and modern) and future applications in such a way that its
applications in Africa and expected developments could be discussed based on sound knowledge
of processes and methods used to manipulate living organisms or the substances and products
from these organisms for medical, agricultural, and industrial purposes.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
On successful completion of this module, the learner should be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge of essential facts of the history of biotechnology and description
of key scientific events in the development of biotechnology
Demonstrate knowledge of the definitions and principles of ancient, classical, and
modern biotechnologies.
Describe the theory, practice and potential of current and future biotechnology.
Describe and begin to evaluate aspects of current and future research and applications in
biotechnology.
Select and properly manage information drawn from text books and article to
communicate ideas effectively by written, oral and visual means on biotechnology issues.
Demonstrate an appreciation of biotechnology in Africa especially in achieving food
security.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The content of the course is organized in five units as followed:
Unit 1: Introduction to biotechnology, history and concepts definition
Unit 2: The Green Revolution: impacts, limits, and the path ahead
Unit 3: Agricultural biotechnology: the state-of-the-art
Unit 4: Future trends and perspectives of agricultural biotechnology
Unit 5: Biotechnology in Africa: options and opportunities
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UNIT 1:
INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY,
HISTORY AND CONCEPTS DEFINITION
(04 HOURS)
PRESENTATION
Objective
This unit is intended to introduce the concepts and evolution of biotechnology by the
development of a well-grounded understanding of biotechnological history and definitions
including broad principles, integration of different subject areas, specialized knowledge and the
developments in specific subject.
Content
The unit thus includes the followings:
1. Concepts definition (approx. 01 hour)
2. History & Evolution of Biotechnology (approx. 02 hours)
3. Spectrum of applications of Biotechnology (approx. 01 hour)
Course Delivery
Lecture Slides
The slides used in lectures are summaries that have as main objective to guide the learner in his
personal work (mainly reading the selected literature).
Reading the slides is not an adequate substitute for attending lectures. The slides do
not contain anything that the instructor says, writes on the board, or demonstrates
during lectures.
Lecture Notes
The Lecture notes offer an overview of a subject (you will need to fill in the detail) and detailed
information on a subject (you will need to fill in the background). It encourages taking an active
part in the lecture by doing reference reading.
To continue
The learner may be interested in:
Unit 4/Module 2 of FSBA course on “Agricultural biotechnology: the state-of-the-art”
Module 1 of FSBA course on “Food security, agricultural systems and biotechnology”
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CONCEPTS DEFINITION
What is meant by biotechnology?
The rationale behind this question is that for society to decide how to manage biotechnology,
there must be first a common understanding of what it is. This section provides therefore the
broadest definitions of biotechnology as "the use of living organisms to meet human needs" in
comparison to the narrowest definitions often confined to genetic engineering and recombinant
DNA technology according to international and national institutions and organizations. A basic
glossary of terms used in biotechnology is provided. At the end, without taking sides, the need to
decide what to "choose" biotechnology to mean is discussed as a basic to cope with social
(public understanding and acceptance), political and legislative matters.
Origin of the term “Biotechnology”
According to Robert Bud1, the term « Biotechnology » was first used by the Hungarian Károly
Ereky during 1919 to describe a technology based on converting raw materials into a more
useful product in a book called "Biotechnology of Meat, Fat and Milk Production in an
Agricultural Large-Scale Farm ». For Ereky, the term "biotechnology" indicated the process by
which raw materials could be biologically upgraded into socially useful products. Since its
inception, the notion of biotechnology has been variously defined.
Definitions used by governments and organizations
The following is a list of definitions of biotechnology used by the governments and
organizations of various countries in assessments of the developing field within their
jurisdictions. Most of these definitions encompass both old and new biotechnology.
Canada: Biotechnology is “the application of biological organisms, systems, or processes to
manufacturing or service industries”. Biotechnology is “the utilization of a biological process, be
it via microbial, plant or animal cells, or their constituents, to provide goods and services”.
Federal Republic of Germany: “Biotechnology deals with the introduction of biological
methods within the framework of technical processes and industrial production. It involves the
application of microbiology and biochemistry together with technical chemistry and process
engineering”
1 ROBERT BUD, History of 'biotechnology' Nature 337, 10 (05 January 1989)
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France: “Biotechnology consists of the industrial exploitation of the potential of micro-
organisms, animal and plant cells, and subcellular fractions derived from them”
Japan: Biotechnology is “a technology using biological phenomena for copying and
manufacturing various kinds of useful substances”
The Netherlands: Biotechnology is “the science of the production processes based on the action
of microorganisms and their active components, and of production processes involving the use
of cells and tissues from higher organisms. Medical technology, agriculture, and traditional crop
breeding are not generally regarded as biotechnology”
FDA's working definition of biotechnology
FDA's working definition of biotechnology is "the application of biological systems and
organisms to technical and industrial processes". This definition is necessarily broad. It takes in
both the "old" and "new" science: the age-old techniques for making beer or yogurt as well as
the most advanced uses of recombinant DNA technology. It takes in many applications, from
production of enzymes for laundry detergents, to selective breeding of plants and animals, to
genetic engineering of bacteria to clean up oil spills.
OECD definition
In 1982, an expert group proposed a common definition of biotechnology for OECD member
countries, in which it was taken as “the application of scientific and engineering principles to the
processing of materials by biological agents to provide good and services.” This definition is
still widely referred to and remains the most informative.
In 2005, members of the OECD’s Ad hoc Biotechnology Statistics Group developed a single,
list-based definition of biotechnology. The single definition is: “the application of science and
technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living or
non-living materials for the production of knowledge, goods and services”.
The list-based definition of biotechnology includes the following: DNA/RNA, proteins
and other molecules, cell and tissue culture and engineering, process biotechnology
techniques, gene and RNA vectors, bioinformatics and nanobiotechnology, etc. The
OECD definition of biotechnology is very broad as it covers all modern biotechnology
and also many traditional and borderlines activities.
Example of narrow definitions
Biotechnology at the Hebrew University (1992): “The [direct] manipulation of nature for the
benefit of mankind at the subcellular and molecular levels”
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U.S. Office of Technology Assessment (1984): "New" biotechnology is the industrial use of
recombinant DNA, cell diffusion and novel bioprocessing techniques”.
See more on biotechnology definitions at:
a) https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1984/8407/840724.PDF
b) http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c14/e1-36-13.pdf
c) http://nvsrochd.gov.in/s_club/biology/ch11_bilas.pdf
Biotechnology a multidisciplinary field
Biotechnology is a clearly multidisciplinary field involving biochemistry, molecular biology,
genetics, immunology, microbiology, pharmacology, fermentation, agriculture, to name just a
few. Each of the contributing subject areas brings its own special vocabulary and nomenclature
standards and considerable difficulties of communication is the result. It is therefore important to
become familiar with terminology, for that a glossary of biotechnology and genetic engineering
summarizes the status of the terminology in the various disciplines that make up biotechnology
is given: http://www.fao.org/3/a-x3910e.pdf.
HISTORY & EVOLUTION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
This second section further introduces to biotechnology concepts through the presentation of
timeline showing the progression from the earliest domestication of crops and animals (before
the Common Era) to modern methods of biotechnology in the 21st Century. The classification in
ancient biotechnology (1st generation), classical biotechnology (2
nd generation) and modern
biotechnology (3rd
generation) is presented. Dates are benchmarks of scientific, social responses
and regulatory breakthroughs, and scientific evidence on the important of the role of
biotechnology as tools to improve food production (crops, food, and animal’s husbandry) is
highlighted.
Biotechnology Timeline
The historical application of Biotechnology throughout is provided below since before the
common era; and the evolution in agriculture is summarized in Table 1/1.
Before Common Era
– 7000 BCE – Chinese discover fermentation through beer making.
– 6000 BCE – Yogurt and cheese made with lactic acid-producing bacteria by various
people.
– 4000 BCE – Egyptians bake leavened bread using yeast.
– 500 BCE – Moldy soybean curds used as an antibiotic.
– 250 BCE – The Greeks practice crop rotation for maximum soil fertility.